Calming Rain
by WiseGirlofHyrule
Summary: Annabeth has always loved rain. And this rainy day is nothing less than perfect. Oneshot. PJO.


**AN: **Welp, I hate to admit it, but I kind of have a really severe case of writers block for my Legend of Zelda story I am currently working on. Shameful, I know.

But to keep some sort of creative juices flowing, here is a short, fluffy one shot for you all.

Cheesy, fluffy, and all around cute.

Enjoy.

Updated 4.17 to add spacers. They help with the overall flow of the story.

And obviously, I am not Uncle Rick, or I would have thrown them in Tartarus by now. Oh. Wait...

* * *

The rain has always calmed me. Ever since I was little, and that fact still holds true to this day. It relaxes my muscles and my mind, slows my thoughts to a pace that is quite possibly still considered light speed to the standard mortal, and reminds me of camp.

Oh, the good old days.

Summer thunderstorms at Camp Half-Blood were always my favorite. For some reason, the boom of thunder and the gentle pitter-patter of water droplets atop the cabin's roof and the lake's turbulent surface lulled me to a sleep more often than anything normal would. Like music, a soft bed, or warm blanket just to name a few normal things.

On the other hand, I would go out and dance in it, smelling the wonderful scent and feeling the raindrops burst atop my head and drip down into my hairline, down to my neck, and along my collarbone and back. I would close my eyes so my other senses would heighten. It always amazed me how quiet and gentle rain could be, as well as loud and dangerous.

Rain is uncontrollable.

And being uncontrollable is what fascinates me most about it. It reminds me of someone I know and I smile. His name is Percy, my best friend, my boyfriend. Even those labels fall short of what he truly is to me. He is irreplaceable, the dork of a seaweed brain.

I sit in his apartment, sipping on a mug of earl gray tea waiting for him to return from work. I tuck a loosed strand of hair behind my ear and pull the sleeve of the oversized sweater I borrowed from him over my hand to keep it warm. My tea is gone far too quick and I stare at the bottom of the mug for a minute. I laugh at myself. Surely there is something better I can do than stare at the bottom of an empty mug.

I set it down on the endtable next to me and fold up in the chair I sit in. It is large, so large I swing my legs over one arm and rest my head on the other, leaning into the back of the chair. I close my eyes, content, and let my thoughts drift. I mainly wonder when Percy is planning on coming home.

Then I remember he doesn't know I'm here.

I laugh a little. He's going to be surprised, that's for sure.

And that is the last conscious thought I have.

* * *

I wake to someone shaking my shoulder. I open my eyes to see almost all of the daylight was gone and in its place are lit candles all over the apartment. I lift my head from the chair and look around the room. No one else is here. It must have taken longer for me to wake up than I had thought. I sit up, swinging my legs off the arm, and stand. I was the one who put all these candles in the room, but who lit them?

Smiling, I walk down the hallway to the bedroom. I reach the slightly cracked door and push it open slowly.

"Percy?" I step into the room, but no one is here. I walk over to the window and look out. It is now completely dark save for a few streetlights. The raindrops shimmer in the light's path as they create a path to the damp ground. I sigh. I haven't felt this relaxed in a long time. Too long, I decide. And standing in Percy's room, with his scent, makes me feel at ease, complete, home.

I start to turn around to continue looking for him, but he makes it easy for me.

His arms wrap around my stomach as he presses against my back, burying his face into my neck. I lean my head back and hold his arms to my stomach.

"Hi," I say quietly. He chuckles deep in his chest.

"Hi," he repeats, and then stays quiet for a moment. "Nice sweater," he comments. I smile.

"Thanks," I whisper, turning my head to kiss his cheek.

"It looks good on you," he says into my skin before he places a kiss on my shoulder.

"Does it have something to do with the fact that it is in fact your sweater, I decided to borrow it impulsively, and seeing me in it makes you believe I am yours and no one else's?"

"Something like that," he says between trailing kisses up to my chin. I roll my eyes.

"How romantic of you," I quip.

"Says the one who placed candles all over my apartment," he whispers in my ear as he pulls his arms away. I laugh.

"Hey, at least they are all the same scent."

"Yeah, thanks for that, by the way," he says once I've turned around to face him. He hooks his fingers into the belt loops of my jeans. It was his new favorite thing to do. I am almost embarrassed to say I love it. Almost.

"Hey, I was planning on staying after they were all lit, so I wanted to not have a headache at the end of the night."

"You're planning on staying the night?" He touches his forehead to mine as I roll my eyes. I didn't miss the subtlety of his implications.

"Was," I joke. He laughs.

"Well, what do I have to do to convince you to stay?" His mouth hovers over mine.

"You might be able to use a birthday wish," I whisper. He hums, closing the distance between us.

Or so I thought.

He pulls back, and grabs my shoulders.

"Wait. Annabeth, what day is it?"

I gape at him. He really hasn't changed.

"Last I checked, August eighteenth." I look at him skeptically. He looks like he is seriously trying to remember something. Then I start laughing.

"Percy, it's your birthday." I state. He brings his palm to his forehead with an audible slap.

"I knew I was forgetting something big. My mom even called me earlier and left me a voicemail I never got around to listening to." He starts laughing.

"You really haven't changed much since you turned sixteen, seaweed brain," I say walking out of his room and into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I guess birthdays aren't high on my list of priorities. Like work is," he rolls his eyes. I laugh.

"The day you put work ahead of anything I would pay to see," I grab a container from the counter and open the lid to reveal two blue cupcakes. "But I guess it is reasons like this that you have me."

"Why?" He asks as he leans against the counter.

"Someone needs to stay on top of you, Jackson, or else you'll become a lazy bum," I say, picking up a cupcake and also leaning against the counter. He snorts and grabs the second cupcake. I punch his shoulder. "You know what I mean."

"Sure," he says as I rip off the bottom of my cupcake to smash it into the frosting on top.

"Um, Annabeth, what are you doing?" He laughs lightly.

"It's a cupcake sandwich! Now taking a bite out of it is possible without getting frosting all over my nose." I take a bite. "See? No frosting!" He actually looks impressed.

"Well, color me surprised," he says, taking a bite of his cupcake. "But I think you look cute with frosting on your nose."

I wrinkle my nose and stick out my now blue tongue at him.

Once we finish our cupcakes, Percy moves to pin me against the counter, getting right down to business.

"So, about that birthday wish," he whispers as he slowly kisses me.

* * *

I lay next to him in his bed as he sleeps, and the soft pitter-patter of rain continues to stain the world in calm.

And gods know how much I needed the calm.


End file.
